Family brands update images with hipper decor, broader menus

Nation's Restaurant News, July 26, 2004 by Carolyn Walkup

With family chains being squeezed on both sides by fast-casual chains and value-priced dinnerhouses, the largest second-tier chains in the segment are working to distinguish themselves by presenting newer and trendier images.

Sticking to their heritage is the general strategy that most of the chains have adopted. At the same time, however, they are attempting to broaden their customer bases by updating their menu mixes and decor packages.

Vicorp Restaurants' Village Inn, the largest of the eight chains that qualified for inclusion in the Second 100, continues to reinforce its heritage, particularly in its breakfast daypart, with featured offerings. The Denver-based chain also is gradually rolling out a new store design.

"We have aggressive growth plans for both Village Inn and [sister brand] Bakers Square," says Cheryl Ahlbrandt, Vicorp's vice president of marketing. The "plan is to open 100 new restaurants, sprit between Village Inn and Bakers Square, in the next five years."

Sonny's Real Pit Bar B Q, with 153 units open, primarily in the Southeast, has an $8 check average that is typical of many family chains and has been upgrading its signature barbecue. "Five years ago there were very few people serving barbecue; now every restaurant has some sort of barbecue," chief executive Jeff Yarmuth says.

"The biggest thing we did was to change to a St. Louis certified rib instead of a sparerib and change from a dry rub to sweet and smoky. We added two hours to the cooking process and baste the ribs in our sweet sauce," he explains.

The sweeter flavor profile is more palatable to a larger number of people, Yarmuth says. Check averages rose in the past year, pushing comparable-store sales up about 7.5 percent.

Another area of upgrade is unit design, which Sonny's for the first time since 1968 now plans to alter. Although the company has tweaked the design over the years, the new prototype will be the first major remodel in more than three decades.

The first newly designed unit is expected to open in Orlando, Fla., in the fourth quarter. If the new look receives a positive reception, Sonny's will offer it to franchisees for remodels.

"Customers, employees and franchisees are more demanding now, and we have to adapt to it," Yarmuth says.

Huddle House also has been updating, or "rebranding," as chief executive Philip Greifeld calls it, with a focus on new stores, menus and marketing. He credits continually improving execution for recent comparable store sales increases of 5.75 percent.

An appeal to a broader customer base appears to be working for the nearly 400-unit Huddle House, whose new stores ring up sales that are as much as 40 percent higher than the chain's average. The chain also has been opening new units in bigger cities than it has in the past.

Huddle House's focus on boosting lunch business also has raised same-store sales. Breakfast and lunch now are tied at scoring 40 percent of the daypart, compared with a 55-percent contribution from breakfast and 30 percent from lunch four years ago, Greifeld says.

The main point of differentiation for Eat'n Park, which operates 76 units in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, is baking its own breads and rolls, according to the chain's president, Basil Cox. Many of its newest menu items emphasize the in-house bakery as well as other fresh products.

In addition, "our salad bar is being reinvented to make it sing 'fresh' even more than in the past," Cox says. Many of the prep functions formerly done out of view of customers, such as slicing tomatoes and cutting celery and lettuce, are being moved to the front-of-the-house to stress the market-fresh-produce theme.

A new coffee blend is another Eat'n Park upgrade that plays up the freshness angle. Espresso drinks will be offered in cafes incorporated into every new restaurant and some remodeled ones.

The cafes, six of which currently are being tested, are separate sections where customers walk up to a counter to order and pay instead of receiving full service, as in the main portion of each Eat'n Park restaurant. All new restaurants will have outdoor patios, too.

To beef up service the regional chain began a server certification program that rewards consistent and outstanding service.